Do we have to particpate in the engine design compo in order to participate in the everyone uses the same engine compo?

After this can we have a everyone uses the same sprites compo? This would be a good idea for those who aren't too handy graphically to show off their coding ability. This way everyone's skills are catered for?!?!

Originally Posted by lembi2001Do we have to particpate in the engine design compo in order to participate in the everyone uses the same engine compo?

Of course not. That would be silly.

I'd suggest:
* Engines to be submitted by 2(?) weeks from start of contest.
* Must be made in MMF2 (must work in build 251).
* HWA is allowed; Developer-only extensions are not.
* Strongly recommended that code is commented, alterable/global values are renamed, etc.
* No prizes (maybe a custom tag and a few DC Points, or something like that).
* No judges - Winner is decided by public vote on which engine(s) people want to use for stage 2 of the contest (therefore no specific scoring criteria either).
* Engines that have already been made are not eligible to win stage 1, but may be submitted and voted on for use in stage 2 of the contest.

Originally Posted by AndyUKI'd just like to say I think it's better to make a fast decision. The longer we wait the more chance people will lose interest. Heck, wait too long and people might even forget about it!

Totally agree. The tax will probably be up on my motor before this competition get's sorted out!

@Akai_R I suppose, the thing is in order for it to be useful it had better be the best, most robust, fully featured and easy to ues level editor I've ever seen made by the click community in order for it to even stand a chance. Remember, people are going wont to use there own graphics, possibly have cut-scenes, in game tutorials, there own quirky mechanics. The level editor submited by AndyUK was one of the better ones I've seen and you couldn't do any of that without fussing about with the code.

So, I think it's better to go with Open Sorce.

"Oh, my god! A lightning monster just ripped out this poor woman's eyes, and your mocking her shrubbery!" - The Spoony One

@ Akai,
I'd say you could keep it closed-source if you must, but it's not really in the spirit of the contest (ie. having fun and creating engines which the community will use and learn from, even after the contest is over), and people would probably be less inclined to vote for it if they find it inflexible or difficult to use.
EDIT: Sorry - scratch that. I'd say it's okay to lock some groups if you must, but no compiled .exes - they don't allow enough freedom to add features.

@ S-M-R,
Doh! I was going to make an "Advance Wars" / "Fire Emblem" engine...

Originally Posted by Sketchy@ S-M-R,
Doh! I was going to make an "Advance Wars" / "Fire Emblem" engine...

Hahaha! Don't worry. I've never played either of those games, and from what I know about them - and your work - it's clear my engine is much simpler than anything you would provide. Your own engines are Klik benchmarks, for crying out loud.

Thanks, but that's quite an exaggeration. I haven't even made more than two or three.

Advance Wars is great, but it's actually very simple - probably not very different from what you're making. Fire Emblem is similar, but a bit more complicated because of all the role-playing elements. I can recommend you play either or both (or "Ancient Empires" for J2ME mobile phones).
I was only going to do a pretty basic engine if anything.